A new student, a new friend
by VioletStarVN
Summary: Fusion was evil. Rotten to the core. Schwan will never trust anyone who came from Fusion dimension. Or will he?


**Tsukina:** Hi, everyone! I'm an OC of VioletStar. My name is Tsukina. And this boy... *points at the boy has light silver hair next to her* uhm... sorry, who are you?

 **Schwan:** *sighs and says nothing*

 **Me:** He's Schwan Stone, an OC of Durbe the Barian. He came here to talk to you, for the sake of this story.

 **Tsukina:** Why must he do that?

 **Me:** Because someone ordered him.

 **Tsukina:** Who!?

 **Schwan:** She doesn't own ARC-V. She only owns the story and Tsukina.

 **Tsukina:** Hey!

 **Me:** The last thing, thank Durbe-san for lending Schwan-chan and helping me to edit this story. Now, enjoy~~

 **xxxxxxxxxxxx**

Two years since Schwan's arrival in Standard...

 **xxxxxxxxxxxx**

Reiji turned his chair the moment Schwan entered the office. "I have a mission for you," he said.

"What's up?" Schwan asked, setting down his school bag. "Calling me in the middle of the day; it must be important."

"It might be," Reiji agreed. "We have a new student. For our Fusion course."

Schwan gripped the leather strap of his bag tightly. _Calm down, Schwan. Just calm down._

"A new student?" he asked. "How nice. Who is it?"

"A thirteen year old girl named Tsukina."

Schwan had to will himself to calm down. While Reiji spoke, he forced the memories of the attack down his throat.

"She's a quick study," Reiji continued. "Almost too quick. The readings from her Fusion Summons are far above the average student here. There's also no information about her prior to her arrival. It's almost as if..."

Schwan knew the reason he paused.

"She just suddenly appeared," Schwan completed, nausea churning his stomach.

Reiji didn't answer, but that was his affirmative.

"You think she's from Fusion."

"I do," Reiji said, leaning against his desk. "But I'm not positive. I was hoping you would go and confirm that for me."

"Me?" Schwan asked, reminding himself to keep calm. "You want me, a denizen of Xyz, to see if this girl is from Academia?"

Reiji stared at him.

Another affirmative.

"And what if she is from there?" Schwan asked, raising his voice and stepping one foot forward. "What if she's undercover?"

 _And what if she finds out where I came from? Will she card me too?_

He had calm enough to prevent himself from saying those words to Reiji.

But those images flashed through his mind again.

Those flying cards.

Cards with the faces of his friends. Faces twisted in horror.

Everywhere. He couldn't escape them. They haunted his nightmares.

Reiji remained silent and gave Schwan a photograph. "This is her," he said. "If she is from Fusion, you won't have to worry about her turning you into a card." As if to poke a joke, he quirked a smirk and added, "We took her old duel disk away and replaced it with one of our own."

Schwan held the photo in his fingers.

It was just an average girl with golden eyes and short, black hair. She didn't look like a demon at all.

But then again, did any?

 **xxxxxxxxxx**

Schwan arrived at the Fusion side when Tsukina was caught in the middle of a duel. As always, the Fusion section of LDS made him want to throw up. Two years had succeeded in numbing that feeling, but only just a little.

If only time could numb his memories too.

He turned a corner and saw the Fusion monsters. Not as hideous as the ones that destroyed his homeland; no Ancient Gear Hounds threatening to tear into the throats of their opponents. Nevertheless, Schwan still couldn't stand those monsters.

 _Deep breaths, Schwan. Just ignore them._

He entered one of the dueling arenas and found her. Tsukina.

"I draw!" she declared, pulling a card out of her deck.

A smile twitched on her lips.

 _Just like those Fusion demons._

"From my hand, I activate the Field Spell, Amazing Fusion World!" Tsukina declared, slapping the card onto her disk.

 _Amazing?_ Schwan gritted his teeth. _To a world of Fusion monsters, perhaps. But to us..._

"With this card, one per turn, either player can Fusion Summon a Fusion Monster without using Fusion Spell Cards," Tsukina explained. "So I fuse Luxuriant Marine Princess and Luxuriant Star Princess on my field!"

 _Princess?_

Schwan felt his back straighten. _If this girl truly came from Fusion, would she have used a Princess? I thought they always used Ancient Gear monsters._

"The child of the sea! The crystallization of galaxies! Blend in desires for peace and revive! Fusion Summon!"

Tsukina didn't clapped her hands together like what Schwan was thinking she would do.

She really hated that pose. It reminded her of _them._

It reminded her that she _was_ one of them either.

She simply raised her right arm.

"The child of winds. Luxuriant Windy Princess!"

A new monster draped in a long, blue dress appeared on the field. Long, platinum hair cascaded down her back. Wings as transparent as crystal held her aloft.

[2200 ATK, 1500 DEF]

Schwan staggered back. "It's...It's beautiful," he breathed, clapping a hand over his mouth when he heard it.

He'd only ever said that with Masumi's cards. And she was an exception.

"You can't win with her," Tsukina's opponent called out. "My monster is stronger than yours and I still have 4000 life points."

"Windy Princess' effect!" Tsukina exclaimed. "Once per turn, I can banish a Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck or Graveyard, then increase her attack points equal to that monster's." One of her old monsters appeared on the field as a ghost. "I banish Star Princess, bringing Windy Princess up to 4500."

Star Princess raised her staff high. A rain of stars fell upon Windy Princess.

 _Stars..._

Schwan felt himself being pulled back to those nights in Xyz. The nights when he watched the night sky with his parents, his uncles, Shun-senpai, Yuto, and everybody else. During the warmer nights, they would stargaze on the roof of his house.

 _If only that war..._

Tsukina smirked, pulling Schwan out of his thoughts. "Next, if my opponent only controls a Fusion Monster, I can attack directly!" she revealed.

Windy launched her attack and threw her opponent into the air.

Life instantly collapsed to 0.

"She's strong," Schwan muttered.

Then Tsukina approached her opponent.

Schwan felt that tightening feeling in his gut. LDS became Heartland Academy. Tsukina became another Fusion Soldier.

Cards scattered around his body.

Schwan gripped the wall, his only tether on reality. His other hand was clapped over his mouth. Already, he could taste the bile.

 _I hate this place._

Then the room exploded and became LDS again. Tsukina had helped her opponent return to his feet. "That was great," she said with a smile.

Not one of those wicked smiles. A calm one.

 _Like Masumi-chan's._

"Keep that up and you're sure to become much stronger."

Schwan reduced his grip on the wall.

 _She wants her opponents...to become stronger?_

"Alright, so I can invite you to a coffee shop?" he asked, hoping she would agree once.

"I'm sorry," Tsukina refused and turned to walk when the bell rang out. "But I want to be alone. See you later."

"She's so strong," someone commented. "I wonder where she's from."

"But she's so strange," the boy who just dueled her said. "Although she always helps us, I can't invite her to go to anywhere except the card shop."

Tsukina heard clearly what they were saying, but she didn't show any reaction.

 **xxxxxxxxxx**

Tsukina walked past Schwan, still stunned by the duel, and looked him in the eye. "Excuse me," she softly said. "Are you feeling okay? You look a little pale."

Schwan pulled his hand away from his face and steadied his breathing. "Y-Yeah," he said. "I'm fine."

"Did you need something from me, then? I saw you watching me during the duel."

Schwan looked away.

Tsukina's face lost the glow of her smile. "Reiji Akaba ordered you to come here, didn't he?"

Schwan's eyes widened.

Tsukina sighed. "I figured. You don't look like you would come down here by choice." She took hold of his hand – she didn't have the cold he was expecting – and pulled him into a hidden corner. "Let me guess. Reiji Akaba noticed that I refused to answer any questions about who I am or where I came from, so he asked you to come meet me, right?"

Schwan gulped down the bitter taste in his throat. "So you came from there, didn't you?" he asked.

Tsukina nodded.

"Academia..." Schwan gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"No. I'm from Fusion dimension," she corrected, although she knew it wasn't different in Schwan's eyes. "And from the look on your face, I guess you came from the Xyz dimension."

The hallway became the broken mall.

Tsukina became a Fusion Soldier once more.

"Get back," Schwan said, pushing her away and wrapping his arms around his body. The taste was coming back.

 _I feel sick!_

Everything became a blur. He vaguely recalled someone pulling on his arm, then taking in the sweet taste of the outside air.

He wasn't in the Fusion section anymore.

He was outside.

Tsukina had pulled him outside. "You feeling any better?" she asked. "You looked like you were about to throw up."

Schwan looked away from her and took deep breaths, eventually collapsing to the grass outside. "I just have bad memories of that section of LDS," he said. "That's all."

Tsukina didn't argue against that. Instead, she simply said, "I didn't want any of that, you know."

He looked up to her. Tsukina's face looked strangely sober. Her fingers slid into her pocket and she revealed half of a card.

Schwan took it hesitantly and examined the artwork.

Immediately, he felt the want to throw up again.

A young man in his prison.

"He was my older brother," Tsukina explained.

Schwan returned his gaze to Tsukina.

Tears were wetting her face. "Ten years ago," she explained, "they came and killed my father. Then they carded my brother, tore his card in two, and stole my sister. They did that to everybody. And they claimed it was for the greater good." She wiped the tears from her face. "I don't want that life. It's a real hell. As soon as I realized I was here, I joined in LDS. I want to become stronger to defeat Academia. I want my sister back. I want my home back. "

Schwan found himself at a loss for words. But as he returned the card to her, a dark thought slipped through his defenses.

 _How can I believe you?_

He didn't voice it.

She started running before he had the chance. "Hey!"

"You don't need to believe me," Tsukina called out. "I have no right to ask that of you." She stopped and turned back to him. "I just want a future where we can smile with our monsters again."

A smile graced her own face.

Schwan had never seen one on a Fusion person before.

 **xxxxxxxxxx**

"Did you meet her?" Reiji asked.

Schwan nodded.

"And?"

He shook his head. "I need some time."

It was strange. Tsukina was Fusion. Fusion was evil. Rotten to the core.

She didn't ask for his name, he noticed. It didn't seem to be all that important to her.

But her dueling, her monsters, her speech...

For the first time in his life, he was hesitating.

 **xxxxxxxxxx**

Going into the Fusion section alone was hard. Ever since his panic attack on his first day, he made it a point to never go in alone. Masumi was often the one to lead him through and he was grateful for that.

He was even more grateful that she never asked questions.

A week later, Schwan was still indecisive. He wanted to learn more about Tsukina, but he also wanted to avoid her.

She was Fusion. Fusion destroyed his home.

But if she spoke the truth, then Fusion also destroyed hers.

Still, Schwan couldn't bring himself to say anything to her.

Until he saw the notebook that she had dropped.

Being incapable of resisting, he picked it up and took a quick peek.

Card designs. Every one of them was Fusion oriented – not surprising – and were either monsters, spells, or traps.

 _Hers?_

He examined the work further. They were beautiful designs.

She's got a talent for this.

Then he reached the end. In faded pages, Tsukina had written her thoughts concerning Academia.

She lived underground.

She couldn't see the sunlight.

Her best friend died when tried to protect her.

Students either succeeded or failed.

They either became monsters or were sealed away.

They forced to laugh while watching their dear friends being sealed into cards.

 _I thought we were the only people hurt in this war._

Schwan had to put the notebook down before he lost his self-control.

 _How can she still smile after_ _experienced those terrible things?_

 **xxxxxxxxxx**

The next day...

Tsukina noticed Schwan outside of her classroom the moment she stepped out. "Were you waiting for me?"

Schwan revealed her notebook from his pocket. "You dropped this yesterday."

A smile instantly graced her face. "I thought I lost it forever," she said, accepting it eagerly. "Thank you so much."

Schwan slid his hands into his pockets. "Schwan."

"Eh?"

"My name is Schwan Stone. I'm from Xyz."

He held his hand out to her. No doubt Tsukina could see that he was trembling.

She smiled. "Tsukina Watanabe." She shook his hand.

Schwan allowed for a moment of pause. "Can I trust you?"

"Of course."

 **xxxxxxxxxx**

It was a new experience for Schwan. He believed someone who was from Fusion.

Would he regret it? Would he live to regret his decision?

No. Never.

 **END**

 **xxxxxxxxxx**

 **Me:** *hugs Schwan* You're so cute!

 **Schwan:** Hey, release me! What are you thinking?

 **Tsukina:** She just said you're very cute.

 **Schwan:** I don't ask you.

 **Me:** I hope you like this story. Bye *carries Schwan and runs away*

 **Schwan:** Hey, release me!


End file.
